This invention relates to a pre-formed bags dispenser and bags therefor, the dispenser being of the kind in which a stack of pre-formed bags is located to be dispensed therefrom.
Dispensers of the kind referred to and the pre-formed bags are commonly used, for example, in stores, supermarkets and other outlets for goods for the bags to be used for packaging of the goods. They may also be used in other places for the bags to be used for packaging and storing articles of various kinds.
There is a need for the bags to be readily removable from the dispensers and opened for filling. The present invention is aimed at meeting that need.
According to a first aspect, the present invention consists in a pre-formed bags dispenser comprising a container and located therein a stack of pre-formed bags and attachment means, the container having an access aperture, the bags of the stack each having a flattened body which is formed with opposed front and back walls lying together and has a closed base end and an opposite mouth end, and the bags being retained together in the stack by separable attachment at their mouth ends to the attachment means at lines of weakening, the stack having a transverse bend intermediate the base and mouth ends of the bags whereby a first portion of the stack containing the base ends is deviated from a second portion of the stack containing the mouth ends in a direction towards which external surfaces of the back walls of the bags face, and the front walls of the bags at the second portion are tensioned and presented towards the access aperture for the bag nearest to the aperture to be drawn out through the aperture by manual pulling of the front wall relative to the attachment means, and the separable attachment of the bags to the attachment means allowing separation of the bag so pulled from the attachment means in a progressive action which opens the mouth of the bag.
The pre-formed bags may be made of plastics sheet material and may be so made in a known manner. By having the bags made of plastics sheet material and held in a stack, friction between surfaces of adjacent bags in the stack, resulting from static electricity at the surfaces, creates a significant drag effect on the adjacent bag when the bag nearest to the access aperture in the container is drawn out through the aperture. The drag enables the front wall of the bag being drawn to slide relatively freely with respect to the back wall of that bag, which facilitates the opening of the mouth of the bag. This applies to each successive bag presented to be nearest the opening.
Preferably the stack is folded about the transverse bend so that the second portion is superimposed on the first portion in the container. This reduces the overall size of the stack, and hence the size of the container to hold the stack, but additionally there is the result that when a bag is being drawn through the access aperture, the part of that bag which is at the first portion of the stack is subjected to resistance to movement as the front wall of the bag is pulled, which adds to the tensioning of the front wall. This tension helps with the opening of the mouth of the bag and the resistance to movement inhibits separation of more than one bag from the stack at a time.
For use of the dispenser the container may be disposed substantially horizontally with the access aperture directed upwards. In this arrangement the weight of the second portion of the stack may be exerted on the first portion when the stack is folded as just described, which adds further to the resistance to movement of the part of the drawn bag which is at the first portion of the stack. The resistance to movement, nevertheless, can be overcome without excessive effort by the person drawing the bag from the container so as to separate the bag completely from the stack.
Whilst the folded form of the stack is preferred, the first portion may be deviated to a lesser extent about the transverse bend away from the second portion. This can still afford useful resistance to movement of the parts of the bags at the first portion which assists in the opening of the mouths of the bags as they are drawn out through the access aperture, and inhibits separation of more than one bag at a time from the stack.
Adjacent bags in the stack may be locally connected together at their bodies adjacent to their mouth ends, for example by adhesive, welding or other bonding, in a manner which enables the connection to be released between the drawn bag and adjacent bag during the action of drawing the bag through the access aperture.
The bags may be formed with or without handles at their mouth ends. If they have handles, the handles may be separably attached to the attachment means. The separable attachment of the bags to the attachment means may then be at the handles alone or at the handles and mouths of the bags.
The attachment means may comprise a bar block of the material of the bags separably attached to the mouth ends of the bodies of the bags. If the bags have handles, the bar block may be separably attached to the mouths of the bodies and/or to the handles. When attached to the mouth ends and handles the bar block may be a T-bar block, the cross part of the T extending between, and being joined to, the handles, and the stem part of the T being joined to the mouths intermediate the handles.
Alternatively the attachment means may comprise projections on, and integral with, the mouth ends of the bags. The projections may be at the mouths and/or the handles of the bags.
Yet a further possibility is for the attachment means to comprise a combination of a bar block and projections at the mouth ends of the bags.
In an embodiment in which the bags each have parallel handles integral with the body extending from opposite extremities of the mouth end, the attachment means may comprise a T-bar block, the handles and mouth of the body of each bag being separably joined to the T-bar block, the handles at opposite ends of a cross bar part and the mouth at an intermediate region to a stem part, and the closed base end of the bag having separably joined thereto a tab which is located with respect to the stem part of the T-bar block when the stack is folded at the bend.
The tabs of the bags may be located with respect to the stem part of the T-bar block in various ways. For example, the tabs may be adhesively bonded, hot pin attached or welded to the stem part, or may be attached to a pin or other retainer, or by string, at the stem part.
The T-bar block serves to hold the bags securely at their handles and mouth ends and restrain the bodies of the bags from sagging at the mouths. Location of the base ends of the bags at the stem part of the T-bar block by the tabs restrains the base ends from unintentional movement. This enables a stack to be retained in a neat state in the container of the dispenser.
Preferably the tabs are separably joined to the base ends of the bags by lines of weakening.
The lines of weakening providing the separable attachment of the bags to the attachment means, and at the tabs, may be formed conveniently by lines of perforations.
Drawing of a bag from the container through the access aperture may be done by pinching and pulling the front wall of the bag relative to the attachment means. A user may do this readily with one hand. As the mouth of the bag is opened in the action of drawing the bag through the aperture, it will be understood that the single-handed action required makes the removal and opening of the bag a simple operation to perform.
Whether the bags have or do not have handles, the sliding movement described earlier of the front wall of a drawn bag with respect to the back wall of the bag creates a peeling effect in opening the mouth of the bag. By this effect, the part of the mouth nearest to where the front wall of the bag is pulled opens initially and the opening action spreads along the mouth away from that part. As the mouth opens the front wall is drawn away from the back wall, which maintains contact with the front wall of the next bag in the stack until the final stages of separation of the drawn bag from the attachment means.
The access aperture of the container may restrict access to the front wall of the bag nearest to the aperture to an area of the front wall near to the mouth of the bag. However, it is generally more convenient, for ease of access to, and drawing out of, the bag, for the access aperture to extend from adjacent to the mouth of the nearest bag to the bend in the stack. Thus the bag may be pulled at any part of the front wall between the mouth and the bend, or even at the bend. In this case the access aperture may be enlarged at or towards the bend. Preferably, the width, position and length of the aperture, at least for the most part of the aperture, restrict access to three extended fingers and thumb of one hand of a grown person so as to deter the person from grasping any but the bag nearest to the access aperture.
The access aperture may leave the attachment means unexposed, or substantially so, in the container. Thus the access aperture may end at or near the mouths of the bags of the stack. When the bags of the stack have handles at their mouth ends, the access aperture may have an edge, which may be rigid, or at which a restraint is provided, positioned to deter a person from putting his or her hand into the container between the handles.
An indicator may be provided on the container at or adjacent to the access aperture to indicate to a user where access is to be gained to the stack for drawing a bag from the stack.
The container may be of a generally box or tray-like form having a front part in which is the access aperture. In a box form, the container may be defined as a cartridge which is substantially closed except for the access aperture. In a tray-like form, the periphery of the aperture may be defined by a marginal portion around the open side of the tray.
The container may be made to be disposed of when once the stack has been fully dispensed from it, or it may be made to be re-usable, being filled with another stack of bags when the original stack has been dispensed. It may be made of any suitable material, for example cardboard, plastics or metal, or a combination of materials. At least when made of cardboard, the container may be formed from a single integral sheet cut and having fold lines defined in it for the container to be folded into its finished shape.
In one embodiment of the dispenser the container is of a generally box-like form having opposite ends and sides and opposed front and back walls in the front one of which the access aperture is provided. The stack of bags located in the container has the attachment means held captive in the container at or adjacent to one of the opposite ends. The attachment means may comprise a bar block or a lug or lugs separably attached to the bags in the stack. In the lug or lugs form, the or each lug at each bag may be separable, as the bag is drawn out through the access aperture, from a further component of the attachment means held captive in the container.
The stack may be folded on a support inside the container. The support may be of a plate, or generally plate-like, form in which there is an opening. The stack may be held captive to the support, within the container, at one end part of the support and extend from that end part along the support to the opening where it is then passed through the opening and folded back along the support, so that the bend of the stack is in the opening. Preferably the support is removable from the container for the stack to be loaded onto it, and, if desired, for replacement stacks to be located onto the support as a stack is fully dispensed from the container. The support may be slidable into and out of the container. It may have a handle for ease of manoeuvring it relative to the container. When the stack is loaded onto the support outside the container it may be retained to the support at the attachment means, be laid along one surface of the support and fed through the opening in the support. As the support is subsequently inserted into the container the part of the stack that has been fed through the opening is caused to be folded back against an opposite surface of the support to form the first portion of the stack.
Instead of a generally box or tray-like form, as mentioned, the container may be a bag, for example of plastics sheet material, which has the access aperture in a frontal part.
Retention means may be provided at the container which is engaged with the attachment means and anchored to the container to hold the attachment means captive in the container. For example, in the generally box or tray form of the container, and when the attachment means comprises a bar block, the retention means may comprise a header part of the container which is folded around the bar block, or a part thereof, to hold the bar block captive in the container. An integral portion of the material of which the box or tray is made may define the header part. In another form the retention means may comprise a pin or pins passed through the attachment means and anchored to a wall or walls of the container. A pin may also engage in holes in the tabs which may be provided at the base ends of the bags to locate the tabs with respect to the stem part of the T-bar block example of attachment means referred to above.
In yet another form the retention means may comprise an anchorage element, for example a block, fixed in the container and the stack may have a hole, in or adjacent to the attachment means, in which the anchorage is engaged. Other suitable forms of retention means may be provided.
The container may be mounted on a bracket or other mounting at a point of use. It may be removably and replacebly mounted on the mounting. It may be supported by the mounting in a horizontal, vertical or inclined attitude, as may be convenient for user access to the stack of bags in the container at the access aperture. The dispenser may be used without having the container mounted on a mounting. The point of use may, for example, be a check-out counter in a store or a work station.
According to a second aspect the present invention consists in a stack of bags adapted to be used in a dispenser in accordance with the first aspect of the invention herein set forth.